"Censorship by killing" must end

VIENNA, 14 February 2001 - The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Freimut Duve, has issued a call for OSCE participating States to put an end to censorship, promptly investigate all pending cases of "censorship by killing," and bring to justice those who have been involved in these crimes.

"I have two main messages today," Mr. Duve said. "It is people in power - business, mafia, terrorists, or government and other administrative powers - who try to silence the critical voices as soon as they realize these voices will be heard. The more you do this, the less your aim will be fulfilled. By trying to silence, you produce the contrary - an explosion of non-silence. People's awareness is raised."

"The murder of a journalist in the OSCE region, an organization of declared democracies, must become a matter of the past," he added. "This does not happen only in the East, it happens wherever the rule of law seems to be weak where there is an attempt to silence critics. We have it all over the world on different scales."

During a press conference in Vienna, Mr. Duve noted that at about a dozen cases of "censorship by killing" are reported in the OSCE area every year. He said his office continues to look into questions of media censorship. "Those in power must realize that protection of investigative journalists is protecting their country's future."

"I urge OSCE participating States to do more to put an end to this form of censorship where killing is the final step - where harassment, kidnapping and torture is the first step," he said. "It is very cynical if some people in any government believe we should not be concerned. To kill journalists is to kill the freedom of your country."

Mr. Duve also described some recent cases where journalists have gone missing or were found dead in unexplained circumstances.

Following is an overview:

• During 2000, 11 journalists were killed in the OSCE region (according to information collected by Reporters sans frontieres). Among those listed is Georgiy Gongadze, who disappeared in Kyiv on 16 September. His presumed death has led to political upheaval in Ukraine. A report on his case was presented to the Permanent Council of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe on 8 February 2001, and is available to the public.
• There are reports that media outlets in Ukraine are under increasing pressure because of their coverage of the Gongadze case. Structural forms of censorship are being applied. For example, Radio Continent has actively followed developments, and is under a new re-licensing procedure. The television channel 1+1 issued a statement in Kyiv last week stressing that "the current political crisis in this country has intensified pressure on [free speech.]" 1+1 has been praised by local observers for its objective coverage of the Gongadze case. Media are also reporting that Valery Ivasiuk, a Ukrainian doctor who was helping the Ukrainian parliamentary commission to investigate the Gongadze case, has fled the country and is seeking political asylum in the United Kingdom after receiving death threats.
• In October 2000, Mr. Duve raised the case of Italian radio journalist, Antonio Russo, who was murdered on a road near Tbilisi, Georgia. Mr. Russo worked for Radio Radicale and had been reporting from the Georgian capital on the conflict in Chechnya.
• On 1 July 2000, Dmitri Zavadsky, a camera operator with the Russian television company ORT, went missing in Belarus. There are also reports in the media that he might have been killed.
• On 7 May 2000, journalist Jose Luis Lopez de la Calle of the Basque edition of El Mundo was shot dead. This attack is thought to have involved a terrorist, criminal group.
• The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media is closely following the trial of those who are implicated in the murder in 1994 of Dmitri Kholodov, a Russian investigative reporter.

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe is the first regional organization to have a representative dealing with the issue of media freedom since 1998. The Office works to assist OSCE participating States in their continuing commitment to the furthering of free, independent and pluralistic media. Freimut Duve, a leading German politician and publisher, was appointed the first OSCE Representativge on Freedom of the Media at the OSCE Ministerial Council in Copenhagen, December 1997.

For more information contact the Office of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, tel.: +43-1-512 21 45 - 0, fax: +43-1-512 21 45 - 9, e-mail: pm-fom@osce.org